South Africa, Cape Town, Wednesday, 14 October; LAUNCHED deep into the country’s rigid COVID-19 economic lockdown, the not-for-profit Restaurant Rescue Project (RRP) founded in mid-July of this year by wine entrepreneur Alex Dale of Radford Dale Winery and chef patron Matt Manning of Grub & Vine Restaurant, has generated R5, 031, 800 by the generous restaurant-going public.

The Western Cape’s independent restaurants were hit hard and fast as the lengthy lockdown commenced in late-March and whether the eatery was a titan in the fine dining world or a popular local brasserie where everyone knew your name, it was very quickly, an economic devastation. Of primary concern was not so much the immense loss of income for the restaurant owners but rather the struggle to keep employees on the payroll. A total of 750 direct jobs were preserved thanks to this initiative.

The RRP seed germinated with a genuine offer of assistance to a friend and industry colleague. As with so many, Chef Manning’s Bistro was in trouble and wine entrepreneur Dale stepped up to the plate to assist. Dale realised that the best way to make a real difference was to gift Manning 220 6-bottle cases of premium Radford Dale wine. With a  retail value of over half a million Rand, these wines were added as a free gift to a Grub & Vine dinner voucher purchased for diners to redeem after lockdown. The impact? The vouchers sold out in three days, and Grub & Vine’s future was secured.

Alex Dale: Founder & Managing Director of Radford Dale Winery, Chef Patron Matt Manning & his Grub & Vine team, Chef Patron Luke Dale Roberts of The Test Kitchen and The Pot Luck Club

Due to its overnight success and realising that there were many other restaurants who would welcome the same lifeline, Dale contacted other established and premium wine estates who were quick to join the cause. The revenue that Grub & Vine received from the campaign generated an instant lifeline of over R300,000, which kept the restaurant’s doors open and staff employed during the most challenging time of the economic lockdown.

“The Restaurant Rescue Project has been the life support machine for so many restaurants in this difficult time and it would not have been possible without the hard work and generosity of my good friend Alex Dale. I am incredibly thankful, to not only Alex and Radford Dale for supporting Grub & Vine, but also to all of the other wineries who so generously jumped to the rescue of other restaurants that needed the support. I am very proud to have helped start this incredible initiative and I can’t thank everyone who supported enough”, said Matt Manning.

Commented Luke Dale Roberts, chef and owner of The Test Kitchen and The Pot Luck Club, which both restaurants participated in the programme, “It was a game changer. We had a cash injection when we needed it most, which gave us the springboard we needed to re-open.”

Commenting on the achievements of the RRP, Alex Dale said: “The irony of Covid-19 is that it has brought many of us to our knees, financially, while we remain in perfectly good health. The threat of illness has delivered the actual demise of livelihoods and businesses. The Restaurant Rescue Project was a refusal to stand idly by when so many people in the sector needed help. It showed how people can unite to outflank even the most tumultuous conditions -whether brought about by disease or by government- and survive through helping one-another.”